1 M y son, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you.

2 K eep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye.

3 B ind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 S ay to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your intimate friend;

5 T hat they may keep you from an adulteress, From the foreigner who flatters with her words.

6 F or at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice,

7 A nd I saw among the naive, And discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense,

8 P assing through the street near her corner; And he takes the way to her house,

9 I n the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and in the darkness.

10 A nd behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

11 S he is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not remain at home;

12 S he is now in the streets, now in the squares, And lurks by every corner.

13 S o she seizes him and kisses him And with a brazen face she says to him:

14 “ I was due to offer peace offerings; Today I have paid my vows.

15 “ Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.

16 “ I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt.

17 “ I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

18 “ Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with caresses.

19 “ For my husband is not at home, He has gone on a long journey;

20 H e has taken a bag of money with him, At the full moon he will come home.”

21 W ith her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him.

22 S uddenly he follows her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,

23 U ntil an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hastens to the snare, So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24 N ow therefore, my sons, listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

25 D o not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths.

26 F or many are the victims she has cast down, And numerous are all her slain.

27 H er house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death.